Distributor



April 2 1946 J. R. HARKNESS 2,399,022

,DISTRIBUTOR Filed Nov. 25, 1942 Inventor: Joseph P. Harkness,

b Je aMM H His Attorney.

Patented Apr. 23, 1946 DISTRIBUTOR Joseph R. Harlmess, Schenectady, N. Y., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application November 23, 1942, Serial No. 466,807

2 Claims.

This application relates to i nition system distributors.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved ignition system distributor of the contact yp Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent and my invention will be better understood from the following description referring to the accompanying drawing, and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

In the drawing, Fig, 1 is a plan view of an ignition distributor including an embodiment of my invention; and Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 01' Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown an ignition system distributor including an insulating supporting member l provided with an axially extending hub ii on which two sets of axially spaced apart distributor contacts [2 and I3 are mounted. The contacts l2 and I3 are resiliently supported by yieldable spring elements It and IS in circumferentially spaced apart relationship on the supporting member hub II, and these spring members are provided with outwardly extending stop elements It which limit the outward movement of the springs l4 and I5. Rivets l1 and I8 secure the spring members It and IE to the supporting hub II, and the rivets I! also secure a connecting strip is of electrically conductive material to each of the contacts l2, thereby electrically connecting together all of thecontacts l2 of this set. The ends 20 01' the strip I! extend outwardly to provide a terminal arranged to be connected to a suitable source of electrical power supply, such as the terminal of a magneto. The rivets I8 secure each of the contacts l3 to separate electrically conductive strips 2| which are secured by rivets 22 to the insulating supporting member l0, and each of the rivets 22 is adapted to form an electrical contact with a separate distribution lead which is suitably connected to an ignition spark plug unit. The distributor leads are adapted to be electrically connected to the source of electrical power supply through the distributor contacts 1 2 and I3 by a contactor roller 23 formed of electrically conductive material which is rotatably supported by bearings 24 and 25 on a distributor contactor supporting arm 26. This arm is mounted on a shaft 21 and is rigidly secured thereto by a nut 28such that the arm 25 is rotated on rotation of the shaft 21. This shaft 2'! is adapted to be driven in a predetermined speed relationship to the speed of the engine to which the distributor contacts are connected, such that the proper electrical impulse is sent to the desired spark plug unit in a predetermined sequence. In order to prevent the passage of electric currents from the contactor roller 23 through the bearings 24 and 25 to the shaft 21, the arm 28 is insulated from the shaft 2'! by a set of bushings 29 oi insulating material which are secured to the arm 26 by rivets 30. In order to provide the desired dynamic balance of the contactor supporting arm, a balance weight 3| is secured to the end of the arm 26 opposite the end of the arm to which the contactor roller 23 is secured. Rotation of the shaft 21 causes the contactor roller 23 to engage each of the con- :tacts l2 sequentially and to engage a corresponding separate predetermined contact l3 so as to provide for sequentially electrically connecting together each contact of one of the sets to a separate predetermined contact of the other set.

While I have illustrated and described a particular embodiment of my invention, modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art. I desireit to be understood, therefore, that my invention is not to be limited to the particular arrangement disclosed, and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An ignition system distributor including an insulating supporting member, two sets of axially spaced apart contacts, means for resiliently mounting said contacts in circumferentially spaced apart relationship on said supporting member, means for electrically connecting one of said sets of contacts to a source of electrical power supply, the contacts of the other of said sets being adapted to be connected to separate distribution leads, a contactor supporting arm, means including a contactor roller of electrically conductive material for sequentially electrically connecting together through said contactor each contact of one of said sets to a separate predetermined contact of the other of said sets, means for rotatably supporting said roller on an end of said contactor supporting arm, and a balance weight secured to the other end of said supporting arm.

2. An ignition system distributor including an insulating supporting member, two sets of axially spaced apart contacts, means for resiliently mounting said contacts in circumferentially in; means, means including a contactor roller 1.

o! electrically conductive material for sequentially electrically connectinz toxether through said contactor each contact of one of said sets to a separate predetermined contact 0! the other 0! said sets, means for rotatably supporting said roller on an end of said contactor supporting arm, and a balance weight secured to the other end of said supporting arm,

JOBEPHR. HARKNESB. 

